The present disclosure relates generally to vibration from rotating machines and, more particularly, to providing a qualitative indication of vibration severity while recording vibration data.
Vibration analysis is often used to monitor the mechanical health of machines with rotating components, such as a turbine having a rotor. Typically, vibration analysis of a machine involves a specialist reviewing vibration measurements obtained from a turbine during normal operations, thus allowing the specialist to optimize a maintenance strategy for that machine. In some known systems, a field operator collects vibration data (“recordings”) from a plurality of machines at, for example, a power generation facility. However, through human error or through error in the vibration recording equipment, the vibration recordings may be corrupted or otherwise erroneous. For example, if the field operator incorrectly mounted the sensor to the machine, or mounted the sensor to the machine at an incorrect location, or captured the recording from the wrong machine, the recording may be corrupt. If unaware of the improper or otherwise corrupt recordings, the field operator may waste time collecting improper recordings, and the analyst who later inspects the data may not know whether to trust the data.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial for the field operator to have a qualitative indication of the vibration data while recording (e.g., while at the turbine taking measurements).